MGG74

FACE OFF: Dairi Seorang Reformis
(FACE OFF: A Malaysian Reformist Diary : Fwd)

Oleh: Sabri Zain

Penyingkiran Timbalan Perdana Menteri Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim pada bulan September 1998, telah menggemparkan dunia. Begitu juga dengan penangkapan dan penghakiman ke atasnya. Inilah yang telah melahirkan satu gerakan 'Reformasi' rakyat yang mencetuskan semangat mereka membanjiri jalanraya Kuala Lumpur sambil meneriakkan satu kebangkitan yang mahukan perubahan. Inilah arus gelombang sentimen manusia yang belum pernah berlaku sebelumnya dalam sejarah moden Malaysia.

Buku tulisan Sabri Zain yang bertajuk FACE OFF: A MALAYSIAN REFORMIST DAIRY (1998-1999) merakamkan detik-detik sejarah politik dan sosial yang bergolak dan menggoncangkan Malaysia ketika itu. Buku ini merupakan koleksi penulisan beliau di internet untuk satu tempoh selepas penyingkiran Anwar itu. Inilah rakaman Sabri akan angin perubahan kepada pergolakan sosial dan politik yang menyungkupi Malaysia. Digambarkannya bagaimana tunjuk perasaan jalanan yang telah dipintas dan dipatahkan oleh pihak berkuasa dengan ganasnya, putar belit kes Anwar di mahkamah. Begitu juga dengan kebangkitan ribuan rakyat berhimpun di segenap ceruk rantau negara ini. FACE OFF telah merakamkan dalam bentuk tulisan dan kata-kata, semangat, mud, warna, kecerian dan juga harapan rakyat marhaen yang terjebak dalam gelombang reformasi mahukan demokrasi tulin, kebebasan dan perubahan. Seperti yang dinyatakan oleh penulis secara tajam dan pedas, buku itu adalah satu bentuk dedikasi kepada kumpulan OKT (Orang Kena Tuduh, ataupun yang dituduh) yang telah didera, belasah dan ditangkap ketika demonstrasi tersebut.

Bagi pembaca yang memahami Bahasa Inggeris, Sabri Zain merupakan wartawan yang kerap menyediakan berita terkini di setiap peristiwa di internet. Pemerhatiannya memang dihormati, penelitiannya memang dikagumi dan sindiran tajamnya sentiasa dirasai.

Seorang penganalisa sosial yang terkenal Rehman Rashid (yang kini menguruskan www.agendamalaysia.com

- satu laman web yang diminati pemikir malaysia - dan penulis buku yang harus dibaca berjodol A MALAYSIAN JOURNEY) telah merakamkan pemerhatian berikut dalam ruang awalkata buku itu:

"Sabri telah mula menulis sebelum Anwar ditahan, disumbat dalam tahanan dan dibaham sehingga biru-lebam matanya oleh Ketua Inspektor Polis. Dengan menyiarkan lapurannya di intenet berbulan-bulan lamanya ketika keadaan yang bergelora itu, Sabri menjadi satu 'icon' kepada Fenomena Reformasi. Dengan pengamatan seorang wartawan yang tajam yang tidak dirasuk sifat sinis yang profesional dan tanpa dipengaruhi sebarang perasangka, Sabri terus melangkahkan kakinya ke barisan hadapan dengan buku catatan di tangannya (dengan ada sahaja si celaka yang mahu mengekorinya di belakang) merakamkan setiap peristiwa yang berlaku dengan satu perasaan yang sentiasa mencemaskannya.

"Apa yang terjadi selepas itu memang tidak perlu diragukan lagi. Memang setiapkali adanya wira tentu ada penyokongnya; begitu juga dengan si bajingan. Perasaan yang Anwar mungkin didapati bersalah seperti yang didakwa ke atasnya tidak pun meragukan. Soalan seperti itu tidak pernah muncul ketika Sabri berdiri di satu bahagian pagar yang dibayangkannya. Memang pagar itu tidak wujud. Sabri pun tidak berdiri sembarangan. Dia cuma menggelinjang sambil bercanda.

"Diari reformasi sememangnya satu klasik. Belum ada sesiapa yang melakukanya di negara ini. Mungkinjuga di tempat lain. Mungkin kerana ia tidak mudah dilakukan. Bauran segala gambaran yang sungguh jelas itu adalah didorong oleh satu kesedaran berpolitik dengan jujur dan inilah yang membuatkan catatan peribadi itu menjadi satu kemajuan penting dalam sejarah politik Malaysia, generasi ini.

"Sabri pernah berada di situ, kini dia melahirkannya. Anda sebenarnya memegang satu permata dalam bentuk hasil karya hikayat kewartawanan negara ini. Ia telah ditulis dengan penuh teliti dan mempersonakan sehinggakan ia mampu menjadi satu ekod pembabitan seseorang dalam peristiwa bersejarah yang diceritakannya. Belilah, dan simpanlah dan hadiahkanlah kepada rakan-rakan anda. Sepuluh, 20, 50 tahun selepas ini, tentu ada seseorang yang berterima kasih kerana anda melakukannya."

SABRI ZAIN

Sabri Zain ialah seorang penulis internet. Tulisannya telah muncul di beberapa laman kumpulan berita inernet Malaysia, laman-web reformasi, emel kumpulan perbincangan dan juga webzines (majallah laman web). Tulisannya telah muncul di beberapa penerbitan seperti akhbar pembangkang, Harakah, dan majallah Aliran.

Sabri adalah seorang jurutera sivil yang bertauliah. Tetapi beliau beralik ke bidang penulisan apabila dia menyertai The Star, salah sebuah akhbar harian terkemuka di Malaysia, sebagai seorang wartawan. Sejak itu dia pernah bertugas dalam bidang kommunikasi untuk sebuah syarikat komputer multinasional dan sebuah organisasi pencinta alam antarabangsa. Sabri kini berada di Cambridge, United Kingdom dan masih terus menulis mengenai peristiwa politik di Malaysia di internet, terutama sekali dalam bentuk satira politik.

Sabri adalah seorang 'Trekker' dan juga peminat sejarah Malaysia. Dia minat bermain pesawat keluaran Perang Dunia Kedua di komputernya sambil memelihara beberapa ekor kucing. Dia bangga dengan hidupnya yang sentiasa berdamping dengan internet.

Diterjemahkan oleh -MT-

Rencana Asal:

PRESS RELEASE

FACE OFF: A MALAYSIAN REFORMASI DIARY (1998-99) By Sabri Zain

http://web.singnet.com.sg/~singbigo/faceoff.html

Publisher: BigO Books

Price: S$17.90 / RM35.00 (see ordering instructions below)

ISBN 981-04-2959-2

The sacking of Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in September 1998 made headlines around the world. His arrest and trial were equally controversial. These events also led to the rise of a 'Reformasi' (reform) movement that saw thousands of citizens take to the streets of Kuala Lumpur demanding change, something unprecedented in the modern history of Malaysia.

Sabri Zain's FACE OFF: A MALAYSIAN REFORMASI DIARY (1998-99) chronicles the sweeping political and social events that rocked Malaysia in those tumultuous days. Consisting of writings his over the Internet in the year following the sacking, this is Sabri's eyewitness account of the winds of social and political change that swept Malaysia in its wake - the street demonstrations that were brutally put down by the authorities, the twists and turns of the Anwar trial and the euphoric pro-reform rallies by tens of thousands of people all across the country. FACE OFF captures, in words, the spirit, moods, colour, excitement and hopes of ordinary Malaysians caught in the wave of Reformasi demanding true democracy, freedom and change. As the author poignantly puts it, the book is dedicated to the OKTs ('Orang Kena Tuduh', or the Accused) - detainees who were beaten and arrested during the demonstrations.

For English-speaking readers, Sabri Zain was the journalist who constantly stood out among the numerous writers who covered the event on the Internet. His observations were keenly noted; his sense of fair play highly vaulted and his playful satire much appreciated.

As prominent Malaysian social commentator Rehman Rashid (who now runs www.agendamalaysia.com - a site for the thinking Malaysian - and whose own A MALAYSIAN JOURNEY is a must-read) says in the book's Foreword: "Sabri began writing even before Anwar was arrested, taken into custody and beaten black-and-blue by the then Inspector-General of Police. Posting his reports on the Internet throughout the tempestuous months that followed, Sabri became an icon of the Reformasi phenomenon. With a keen reporter's eye unclouded by professional cynicism, and wholly devoid of conscientious objectivity, Sabri sallied forth to the frontlines with notebook in hand (and discomfitingly often, hapless Significant Other in tow) to record what comes across as little short of the Second Coming."

"There is no ambiguity in what follows. None. There's a Hero and his cohort; a Villain and his. The thought that Anwar might be guilty as charged does not make even a token appearance. The question doesn't arise of Sabri Zain standing entirely on one side of the fence. There is no fence. And he doesn't stand. He capers merrily."

"The Reformasi Diary, however, is a classic. No one's ever done this in this country, or perhaps anywhere - perhaps because it simply couldn't have been done. This giddy mixture of narrative innocence driven by a righteous political conscience makes for a remarkable first-person chronicle of the most significant Malaysian political development in a generation."

"Sabri was there, and now here he is. You hold in your hands a gem of Malaysian narrative journalism. Engagingly, passionately written, it is both a record of and participant in the events it describes. Buy it, keep it, give it to your friends. Ten, 20, 50 years from now, someone will still be grateful you did."

SABRI ZAIN

Sabri Zain is, what they call, an independent Internet writer. His writing has appeared in a variety of Malaysian Internet news groups, Reformasi websites, email discussion lists and webzines. His articles have also appeared in Malaysian publications such as the Opposition newspaper, Harakah, and social reform magazine, Aliran.

Trained as a civil engineer, he turned to writing when he joined the Star, one of Malaysia's leading English-language dailies, as a journalist. Since then, he has worked in the communications field for a multinational computer company and an international nature conservation organisation. Sabri now works in Cambridge, United Kingdom, but continues to write on political events in Malaysia on the Internet, especially political satire.

He admits to being a devout Trekker, fancies himself as a scholar of Malayan history, flies World War II aircraft on his computer, looks after a pride of cats and, he claims, practically lives on the Internet.

QUOTABLE QUOTES

"If one has read John Reed's "Ten Days That Shook The World2, then Sabri Zain's reportage on 'Reformasi' has shaken the Malaysian's chattering class world view. With sharp eyes, Sabri blends chic humour and satire to document and reconstruct Reformasi. After reading this, Malaysia will no longer be the same."
- Hishamuddin Rais, Malaysian filmmaker

"Sabri Zain is an original. He was one of the few and reliable voices on the events in Malaysia's Reformasi. His reports brought you into the drama of the actual event. They read like Tom Wolfe's new journalism, ace reporting that felt like exciting fiction. These rare reports in English are important.
- U-Wei bin HajiSaari, film and theatre director

BigO BOOKS

BigO Books is proud to present FACE OFF, Sabri Zain's account of an event that not only rocked Malaysia but whose reverberations are still deeply felt and hotly debated today.

BigO Books is an imprint of BigO magazine, published by Options Publications Pte Ltd.

The other BigO Books are:
- X'Ho's 'Skew Me, You Rebel Meh? (Or Are You Asking For It?) - Gerrie Lim's Inside The Outsider: A Decade Of Shooting The Pop Culture Breeze 1986-1996.

ORDERING INSTRUCTIONS

To order the book, visit
http://web.singnet.com.sg/~singbigo/faceoff.html or email singbigo@singnet.com.sg

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Sabri Zain

REFORMASI DIARY at http://reformdiary.cjb.net